Murder By Death: In Bocca Al Lupo
By
Evan Sawdey 22 September 2006PopMatters Interviews Editor
Murder By Death have always been stuck in a weird place. More is known about the band, but not as much about their music. The group was named after a 1976 satirical detective movie penned by Neil Simon, and their live shows are filled with raging cellos and setting things on fire. What’s lost is, in fact, a very talented band that at times sounds like if the Drive-By Truckers were an art-rock band. The storming, excellent “Brother” is a swell choice of a single—a dirty, catchy little ditty with the memorable chorus of “I know there’s better brothers / But you’re the only one that’s mine.” Though there are many other fantastic highlights (the opener “Boy Decide”, the moving story-song “The Big Sleep”), the countrified rock sound with cello in tow grows to be a wee bit repetitive around the half-way point, you can still say that few bands have as distinct a sound as Murder By Death. If I died while listening to this, I wouldn’t complain in the least.
Evan Sawdey began contributing to PopMatters in late 2005 after contributing for years to his college newspaper
The Knox Student. Evan became the Associate Interviews Editor for PopMatters in the summer of 2008, and then the full Interviews Editor a year after that. Since joining, Evan's work has been written for and been quoted/featured in a wide array of publications including SLUG Magazine, The Metro (U.K.), Soundvenue Magazine (Denmark), the Daily Dot, and multiple national newspapers. Evan has been a guest on WNYC's Soundcheck (an NPR affiliate), was the Executive Producer for the
Good With Words: A Tribute to Benjamin Durdle album (available for free at
GoodWithWordsAlbum.com), and wrote the liner notes for the 2011 re-release of
Andre Cymone's hit 1985 album A.C. (Big Break Records) and the 2012 re-releases of
Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder's standalone 1985 pop effort (Virgin/Gold Legion),
the JoBoxers' 1983 debut album Like Gangbusters,
'Til Tuesday's 1985 debut Voices Carry, and
Plastic Bertrand's 1978 album AN 1 (all Hot Shot Records). He is a current member of The Recording Academy and resides in Chicago, Illinois. You can follow him
@SawdEye should you be so inclined.
Murder by Death -- "Brother"
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